Principles of Graphic Design
A.K.A. HOW TO ENSURE THAT YOUR DESIGNS DON’T SUCK!
THIS CLASS IS BASED UPON THE WONDERFUL WORK OF ROBIN WILLIAMS
NOT THAT ROBIN WILLIAMS!
THIS ROBIN WILLIAMS!
WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN?
WHAT IS GRAPHIC DESIGN? GRAPHIC DESIGN IS THE ART OF COMMUNICATION AND PROBLEM- SOLVING THROUGH THE USE OF TYPE, SPACE AND IMAGE
WHY THIS CLASS?
ONCE YOU SEE GOOD DESIGN - ONCE YOU CAN IDENTIFY IT, YOU CAN CREATE IT!
ONCE YOU IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM WITH A DESIGN, YOU CAN FIX IT!
“M ore Matter is being printed and published than ever before, and every publisher of an advertisement, pamphlet, or book expects his material to be read. Publishers and, even more so, readers want what is important to be clearly laid out. They will not read anything that is troublesome to read, but are pleased with what looks clear and well arranged, for it will make their task of understanding easier. For this reason, the important part must stand out and the unimportant must be subdued.”
SO… WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE DESIGN?
ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE DESIGN: CONTRAST REPETITION ALIGNMENT PROXIMITY
ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE DESIGN: CONTRAST REPETITION ALIGNMENT PROXIMITY IF ONLY THERE WERE AN EASY WAY TO REMEMBER… YOU KNOW - AN ACRONYM, OR A MNEMONIC DEVICE…
ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE DESIGN: CONTRAST REPETITION ALIGNMENT PROXIMITY IF ONLY THERE WERE AN EASY WAY TO REMEMBER… YOU KNOW - AN ACRONYM, OR A MNEMONIC DEVICE…
ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE DESIGN: R A P IF ONLY THERE WERE AN EASY WAY TO REMEMBER… YOU KNOW - AN ACRONYM, OR A MNEMONIC DEVICE…
C.R.A.P! - EXACTLY!
DESIGN ELEMENT CONTRAST
CONTRAST = DIFFERENCE! CONTRAST DESIGN CONTRAST = DIFFERENCE! ELEMENT IF THE DESIGN ELEMENTS ARE NOT EXACTLY THE SAME, MAKE THEM VERY DIFFERENT! CONTRAST
WEAK CONTRAST IS BORING!
BIG
HEY! LOOK AT ME!
SAME SAME SAME SAME SAME SAME SAME DIFFERENT SAME SAME SAME DON’T BE AFRAID OF WHITE SPACE
plain
THIN
WHEN IT COMES TO CONTRAST IN A DESIGN, GO BIG, OR GO HOME!
DESIGN ELEMENT REPETITION
REPETITION = RE-USE! REPETITION DESIGN REPETITION = RE-USE! ELEMENT RE-USE THE SAME (OR SIMILAR) ELEMENTS THROUGHOUT THE DESIGN REPETITION
REPETITION CAN REALLY PUNCH UP YOUR DESIGNS!
REPEAT AFTER ME… COLORS PATTERNS SHAPES TYPEFACES STROKES & LINES WEIGHTS & THICKNESS TEXTURES SPACIAL RELATIONSHIPS
DESIGN ELEMENT ALIGNMENT
ALIGNMENT= VISUAL CONNECTION ALIGNMENT DESIGN ELEMENT VISUAL CONNECTION NOTHING IN YOUR DESIGN SHOULD LOOK AS IF IT WERE PLACED THERE RANDOMLY ALIGNMENT
ALIGNMENT BRINGS ORDER TO CHAOS
ALIGNING TYPE This text is This text is flush left. flush right. Some people call it quad left, or you can say it is Some people call it quad right, or you can say it is left aligned. right aligned.
ALIGNING TYPE This text is centered. If you are going to See, in this paragraph it is difficult to tell if this text was centered is centered. purposely or perhaps accidentally. The line If you are lengths are not the same, but they are not really different, either. going to center text, make it If you can’t instantly tell that the type is centered, why bother? obvious!
ALIGNING TYPE This is an example of text which has been fully justified. This alignment leaves more space between words than desired. For example, the space between the words in the second line of the first paragraph is high, as is the space between the words in the third line of the first paragraph.
DESIGN ELEMENT PROXIMITY
PROXIMITY = ORGANIZATION DESIGN PROXIMITY = ORGANIZATION ELEMENT ELEMENTS RELATED TO EACH OTHER SHOULD BE GROUPED CLOSE TOGETHER PROXIMITY
DON’T MAKE YOUR AUDIENCE THINK! OR…AT THE VERY LEAST, DON’T MAKE THEM THINK ABOUT THE WRONG STUFF…
B E F O R E Not horrible, but everything has a certain “sameness” to it. There is no contrast or hierarchy.
A F T E R Much better! This revised version is much easier to read and comprehend. And all it took was a little bit of “C.R.A.P.”
TYPE
EVERY DESIGNER SHOULD HAVE FIVE TYPES OF FONTS IN HIS OR HER COLLECTION
SANS SERIF SLAB SERIF SCRIPT FONT TYPES SERIF SANS SERIF SLAB SERIF SCRIPT DECORATIVE
SERIF? FONT TYPES
SERIF? FONT TYPES
SERIF? FONT TYPES
SERIF? FONT TYPES
SERIF? FONT TYPES
SERIF FONT TYPES Times New Roman Book Antigua Adobe Garamond Pro
SANS SERIF FONT TYPES Arial Impact Eras
SLAB SERIF FONT TYPES Rockwell Big Mummy Playbill
SCRIPT FONT TYPES Brush Script XwãtÜw|tÇ fvÜ|Ñà Mistral
DECORATIVE FONT TYPES Circus VARSITY Old English Text
OMG!!! WHERE CAN I FIND MORE FONTS?
SOME TRULY TASTY FONTS ARE BEING SERVED UP AT DAFONT.COM
WWW.DAFONT.COM
REAL FONT “NUTS” SHOULD HEAD OVER TO FONTSQUIRREL.COM
WWW.FONTSQUIRREL.COM
ALL THESE LOVELY FONTS!
HOW ON EARTH ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW…
…WHICH FONTS WORK WELL TOGETHER? (MR. SMARTY- PANTS!)
WHEN IT COMES TO
COMBINING FONTS
IT’S ALL ABOUT…
RELATIONSHIPS!
TYPES OF (DESIREABLE) TYPE RELATIONSHIPS… THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF (DESIREABLE) TYPE RELATIONSHIPS… C
CONCORDANT CONTRASTING
CONCORDANT USE ONLY ONE TYPE FAMILY, WITHOUT MUCH VARIETY IN STYLE, SIZE, WEIGHT, ETC.
TYPE FAMILY???
SAME FONT…
DIFFERENT WEIGHT,
DIFFERENT STYLE,
DIFFERENT WIDTH,
ETC.
THE CLARENDON TYPE FAMILY,FOR INSTANCE, HAS SEVERAL UNIQUE (BUT RELATED) FAMILY MEMBERS
Helvetica Lt. Condensed Helvetica Black Helvetica Lt. Condensed Oblique
CONTRASTING COMBINE SEPARATE TYPEFACES THAT ARE CLEARLY DISTINCT FROM EACH OTHER
REMEMBER THE FIVE TYPES OF FONTS WE IDENTIFIED EARLIER: SERIF, SANS SERIF, SLAB SERIF, SCRIPT, AND DECORATIVE…?
TO SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVE TYPE CONTRAST, TO SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVE TYPE CONTRAST, SIMPLY COMBINE TYPEFACES FROM DIFFERENT TYPE CATEGORIES. IT’S THAT EASY!
Professional
SHADOW RIDGE High School
Dysart Unified School District #89
“DOCTOR’S ORDERS!”
USE NO MORE THAN TWO (OKAY… MAYBE THREE...) FONTS PER DESIGN
MORE THAN THAT, AND YOU’RE JUST LOOKING FOR TROUBLE!
THE “NITTY-GRITTY” SO…WE KNOW ABOUT “C.R.A.P.” AND FONTS AND STUFF…
THE “NITTY-GRITTY” THE QUESTION REMAINS… WHAT SOFTWARE SHOULD WE USE?
THE BEST SOFTWARE IS THE SOFTWARE YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU!
THE BEST SOFTWARE ADOBE INDESIGN MICROSOFT PUBLISHER, WORD, OR EVEN POWER POINT!
APPLY THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE DESIGN, REMEMBER THE RULES OF COMBINING TYPEFACES, AND WHATEVER DESIGNS YOU CREATE - BE THEY FOR PERSONAL OR PROFESSIONAL USE - WILL BE AWESOME!